I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates broadly to racks for storing items which may be easily damaged; and, in particular, the present invention relates to a storage rack for storing a removable automobile top.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Automobiles have been manufactured which include a removable hard top that is adapted to be releasably secured to the automobile body and removed from the automobile to provide the user of the automobile with a convertible vehicle. One known automobile of the type described is manufactured and marketed under the trademark MERCEDES-BENZ ROADSTER. This automobile has a hard top which includes side windows and a rear window, and is releasably attached to the automobile body. The top may be simply removed from the automobile body by two persons. Owners of such vehicles normally place the top in an upright position and generally store the top in the corner of a garage. U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,844 discloses a storage container for safely storing such tops. The removable hard top for the MERCEDES BENZ ROADSTER is very expensive and therefore must be handled and stored in a careful manner to insure that the windows, exterior painted surfaces, and interior matted surfaces are not damaged during a period when the hard top is in a stored position. The storage container described in U.S. Pat. No.; 4,085,844 adequately stores and protects the top while in storage. However, this storage container is relatively expensive as compared to the rack of the present invention. Other storage containers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 3,949,528; and 1,441,264. Racks for transporting articles of various description are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,466,149; 2,916,293; 3,224,787; 3,540,753; and 3,693,996. These racks do not disclose structures to adequately store and protect a removable vehicle hard top as taught by the present invention.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a lightweight, inexpensive storage rack for storing and protecting automobile tops of the type described.